1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a general purpose bicycle rack for mounting upon a bicycle and for carrying various articles, accessories or persons.
2. Background Discussion
A number of bicycle racks are known which are mountable on bicycles and can be utilized to carry various articles, accessories or persons; most frequently these racks are mounted above the rear wheel. These prior art racks generally have two main structural components: (1) a flat shelf upon which articles can be attached and (2) support legs extending downward from the shelf and attaching to the axle of the bicycle. The prior art racks are generally constructed in one of the following two ways. First, some are constructed from a plurality of metal members that are welded together. An example of this type of rack is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,071. A disadvantage associated with this type of rack is that it cannot be disassembled by the consumer/user. Consequently, these racks consume an undesirably large amount of space when they are placed in storage, or need to be transported from one location to another. Second, another general type of rack utilizes separate shelf and support leg pieces which can either be locked together in an engagement position, or can be completely disengaged from each other. These racks have the potential to provide some advantages over the welded racks for storage or transportation purposes because they can be disassembled. However, many of these racks utilize support legs which have multiple struts that are welded together. Consequently, these welded support legs also consume a considerable amount of room and, therefore, cannot be easily stored or transported. Furthermore, these racks have an additional problem in that they are difficult to assemble and disassemble because they generally require a large number of hardware connecting pieces that are utilized to connect the rack shelf to the support legs at a plurality of interconnection points.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bicycle rack that improves on the disadvantages associated with the prior art bicycle racks. More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bicycle rack that can easily be assembled and disassembled by a consumer. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bicycle rack that does not consume a significant amount of storage space when it is not in use. Additionally, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a bicycle rack having the above-described advantages that can also be simply and inexpensively manufactured. Finally, it is an additional object of the present invention to provide a bicycle rack having the above-described advantages that can also be utilized with various rack accessories.